MEROUANE Zemmama can be a massive player for Boro if he focuses fully on his football, insists Tony Mowbray.

After a season of few highs and many lows, the Moroccan has been told to re-charge his batteries over the summer and come back for pre-season prepared to fulfil his huge potential.

Mowbray, who signed Zemmama from Hibernian in January 2011, said: “Merouane’s here because of his talent and yet he hasn’t been able to show it.

“He had a hernia that dragged on for months and months and that ended up needing an operation. He also had a couple of off-field issues that have affected him.

“It has been a frustrating season where he has had little impact on the team because of those issues.

“He needs to have a really good pre-season, he needs to get his mind on feeling part of the team because he’ll only play if his talent warrants it.

“And he undoubtedly has enough talent to be in a Middlesbrough football team so he has to get everything else right and do it on the pitch.”

Zemmama’s season has never really got going.

He was frequently unavailable in the early weeks due to his strict observance of Ramadan and he also had a long-running hernia condition that eventually required surgery in January.

He’s only started seven league games so far this season and scored just once. He also netted in the Carling Cup defeat at Crystal Palace in September.

That sole league goal, a sensational free-kick conversion against Southampton last Saturday, demonstrated the playmaker’s match-winning potential.

Mowbray said: “We know what he can do as he showed against Southampton.

“He can score goals, he can bring quality to the proceedings. His first touch, his ability to pick passes, his ability to dribble past people and his ability to stick the ball into the top corner is there for all to see.”

FORMER Boro striker Lee Miller today confirmed that his wife Donna has died following an illness.